Habitat Crew 2006-2007 - The crew consisted of 14 youths, both church members and non-church members who met regularly with leader Beth Davis and advisors John MacDonald, Jodi Green, and Lisa Hiley to do community service projects and raise funds to finance a trip to Charleston, South Carolina during February vacation to work for Habitat for Humanity. The crew completed frames for Habitat houses during their stay. They gave a presentation about their experience on Children’s Sunday in May.

Habitat Crew, 2007-2008 - This year’s Habitat Crew consists of 16 youths, both church members and non-church members, in grades 10-12 who meet regularly with their leader Beth Parker to do community service projects and raise funds in order to return to Charleston, South Carolina during February vacation for an intensive work-week with the Sea Island chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Activities have included leaf-raking, volunteering at the Habitat Christmas Tree Showcase event, baking pies for the Berkshire Food Project, and cookie-baking. The winter and spring activities will include working at a local Habitat site and a Spaghetti Supper for the community. Youths from the surrounding area participate.  They are enthusiastic, hard-working, have lots of fun and are well-supported by the congregation and community-at-large.

In addition to Beth Parker, adult advisors and trip chaperones are: Beth Davis, Elizabeth Smith, and Sam Smith.

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Our weekend Meals on Wheels project, part of the larger ecumenical “Take and Eat” program, has been cooking on Saturdays and delivering approximately 70 meals on the fourth Sunday of each month since September of 2005. Our recipient list includes people referred by Elder Services, local churches and a few members of our congregation.

We are blessed with a talented and dedicated cooking crew who have prepared everything from mounds of mashed potatoes to mini meatballs, bagged innumerable baked goods, produced dozens of cookies and bars, served up approximately 850 meals and keep the kitchen and our supplies in good order.

We have seven delivery routes each month and our faithful delivery drivers not only get the meal to the recipient but deliver cheer and companionship, reporting back if they encounter any concerns.

In 2007, over twenty persons have tied on aprons to help cook and/or package and bag the meals: a dozen more have baked the luscious desserts and twenty or so have lent their time and autos to deliver the meals.

We will be continuing our participation in the program for 2008 and welcome all who wish to be part. Cooking skills are not required.

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This post is the complete 2008 Meals-on-Wheels schedule.  Click on the “read more” link to see the schedule.

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The First Congregational Church of Williamstown has a tradition of fighting injustice locally and globally. The ecumenical Williamstown Sudan Relief Task Force is addressing ongoing strife and injustice with support services in Sudan. Proceeds from the sale of this soup mix go directly to support an accredited elementary school and other programs for internally displaced persons outside the capital city of Khartoum.

How to set up to make 50 soup kits:

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The crisis in Sudan was brought to our attention by Episcopal Deaconess Raile Daffala, mother of Darius Jonathan, husband of Carrie Bail, who is the Pastor of First Congregational Church in Williamstown. Many churches and organizations throughout Berkshire County were privileged to hear Mother Raile and Darius speak about the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in refugee camps around Khartoum of the “Mothers’ Union” refugees who are trying to help them, and of terrible governmental acts, including bombing civilian targets and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching those displaced from the valuable oil fields in the south.

An ecumenical Sudan Relief Task Force evolved in Williamstown, with representatives not only from nearby churches but central and south county towns including Dalton and Lee.

Goals are:

• Education
Mailings to churches and organizations to increase awareness
Letters and email to encourage governmental action
Darius Jonathan is available to speak to interested churches.
More information is available on web sites such as: http://www.angelsinsudan.com, http://www.refugees.org, http://www.sudan.net, http://www.churchworldservice.org.

• Craft Program
Helping the Mothers’ Union to expand a small craft program to broader markets,
Actively searching for financial assistance and channels to market the crafts

• Financial Aid

Fundraising is ongoing to help refugees with daily needs and initiatives such as crafts to engender income and self-esteem.

What can you do?

• As Mother Raile asked, pray for the people of Sudan, and for oppressed people everywhere.
• Bring this campaign to your Outreach/Mission Committee.
• Call the First Congregational Church-UCC of Williamstown, Massachusetts at: (413) 458-4273 for further information

• Or write us, c/o First Congregational Church-UCC, 906 Main Street, Williamstown, MA 01267

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We are not interested in the war.
We don’t know the reasons for it.
We are interested in saving the lives of our children.

- Mother Raile Daffala

The Sudan Relief Task Force is a grassroots effort comprised of multi-denominational churches in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, focusing on education, political action, and direct relief to specific internally displaced persons outside Khartoum.

For more information contact:

Sudan Relief Task Force
c/o First Congregational Church-UCC
906 Main Street
Williamstown, MA 01267-2639

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Our Shawl Ministry was started in May 2004. Our guide is the book KNITTING INTO THE MYSTERY, by Susan Izard and Susan Jorgenson. Much of our knitting is done in private, but we meet periodically to knit and pray corporately.

The goal of the ministry is to knit shawls in a contemplative way and give them away with a prayer:
To heal the sick
To comfort the lonely
To welcome the stranger
To help one through a transition
To rejoice at a birth
To celebrate an anniversary or special event
To let the recipient know that First Congregational Church members are thinking of them

Once or twice a year the completed shawls are presented during the Sunday worship service to be blessed.

Meetings open with prayer as we gather to knit. We review names of persons who will receive shawls and confer with Pastor Carrie regarding upcoming infant baptisms. We are touched by the reading of thank you notes which help us realize the importance of the program.

A special part of every meeting is the time for “Pass and Pray”. Knitting and chatter end as knitters gather in a circle around a low table which is covered with finished shawls or works in progress. Each person takes a shawl to hold for a minute or two and prays silently or aloud for someone who will receive it. Each shawl is then passed to the next
person and the process is repeated until each person has held and prayed over each shawl. We hope in this way that our best wishes for healing, joy and love will go with the shawls to warm the recipient.

The next meeting of Shawl Ministry will be Sunday morning, February 17, at 9:30, in the church parlor. Several shawls have already been turned in to be added to those brought in on the 17th for “pass and pray” time. Knitters bring your shawls-in-progress to knit during the meeting and newcomers please join us.

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APPLICATION FOR FUNDS FROM THE MAKEPEACE BEQUEST

General Guidelines: The terms of the Makepeace Bequest, as determined by a vote of the Church, call for support of specific projects that promote social justice, meet human needs, and alleviate suffering. The Church Committees may consider any request for any project, including requests for multi-year projects and requests for support of operating budgets for existing groups. However, those intending to apply for either of these should know that there is no guarantee that funding will continue in a future year. We also wish to promote the involvement of the congregation in Makepeace projects, so that we will become aware of the needs and programs outside our ordinary lives. Projects must have a member of the congregation as an active liaison who will report both to the administering committees and the whole Church on the nature of the project. Applications must be submitted to the Church office no later than Fri., Sept. 28, 2007.

PROJECT TITLE:________________________________________________
CONTACT PERSON:
Name: _________________________________________________________
Address:________________________________________________________
E-mail: _________________________________________________________
Telephone: (work):___________________ (home):_______________________
Note: This person will be responsible for presenting this proposal to a meeting of the relevant church committees, held in October or November 2007.
BRIEF SUMMARY STATEMENT FOR THIS PROJECT:
(add extra pages, if necessary)

AMOUNT OF FUNDS REQUESTED:__________________________________
If this amount does not represent the full cost of the project, what is the full cost, and how will the balance of funds be supplied?

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CONGREGATIONAL INVOLVEMENT:

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GUIDELINES FOR PROPOSALS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008 FUNDS
(Applications to be reviewed and approved at Annual Meeting in January 2008)

1.) Complete the attached application.

2.) Attach additional material to summary page (suggested length: 1-4 pages). This section should include specific information on the need the project addresses and the goals of the project. Is this expected to be a one-year or a multi-year project?
The committees reviewing proposals need budget information that is as detailed as possible. Show what funds are intended for salaries (salaries cannot be paid to Church members), what for travel, and what for supplies. Where the Makepeace funds are providing only a portion of project costs, information should be provided for the entire project, with the funded items identified. A proposal may still be submitted even if this information is not readily available. The relevant Church committees may, at their discretion, request more information before deciding whether to allocate funds to the proposal.

3. Two copies of the full proposal are due at the Church office by Friday, September 28, 2007. Proposals will be evaluated by Church boards and approval will be made at the Annual Meeting in January, 2008. Money for projects that are approved will be made available in January, 2008.

4.) Successful applicants are expected to submit at least two reports during the year in which the money is spent. An interim report is due in June 2008, and a final report is due by December 15, 2008. Money that has not been expended by December 31, 2008, will revert to the Makepeace Fund unless the Committee decides that there are extenuating circumstances, such as the illness of the project coordinator.

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The church is blessed to be a beneficiary of the Isabelle Makepeace 1985 Revocable Trust. Every year half of our income from this bequest is allocated to the Board of Trustees for capital projects, and the other half is allocated to non-profit organizations who have applied for grants. After receiving the applications the Makepeace Committee meets to decide which grants met the guidelines established by the church and then passed those applications along to a committee of Makepeace, Christian Education, and Outreach representatives.

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